A World Away
by bewdifuldragon
Summary: Two years have passed since the virtual world was destroyed, and Mokuba's keeping a big secret on a tiny device. But when faced with the prospect of losing Noah for a second time, will he finally work up the courage to tell Seto what he'd kept to himself all this time, or will he have to say goodbye all over again?
1. A World Away

**Hey guys, hope you like this one. Considering whether or not I should continue and make a series out of this considering there are a number of things I can't properly address in a one-shot, ie, why Mokuba hasn't told Seto his little secret yet. So leave me your thoughts! We'll see where this goes. In the meantime, enjoy my thinly veiled excuse to write about my adopted babies under the pretense of practising alternate writing formats and furthering myself an an author. Also there's no way Mokuba doesn't use tons of emojis when he's in a good mood. No way.**

* * *

 **"Because brothers don't let each other wander in the dark alone." ~Jolene Perry**

Mokuba took each step with great care, balancing his weight just so. His bright striped socks cushioned his every step, but regardless, his brother was an absurdly light sleeper, and the young boy wasn't going to take any chances.

He felt bad, of course, for sneaking around behind Seto's back. The elder had essentially given up any chance at a normal life to take care of the both of them and there wasn't anything Seto wouldn't do for his baby brother. Mokuba knew this, but in his defence, it wasn't like he was doing anything _wrong_. He only wanted what everybody wanted, right? His family.

By all accounts, in all the world, Seto was the only family he had. Their blood relatives either passed away or had abandoned them long ago, and their stepfather was long since dead, leaving Seto and Mokuba the better for it. That left Noah, the long-lost adoptive brother they didn't know they had until more recent times.

As far as Seto was happy to believe, Noah – or what remained of him – Perished when KaibaCorp Island had been blown up. But Mokuba was nothing if not hopeful, and while Seto had been stuck in a series of back-to-back meetings, Mokuba conducted himself a little mission.

It had taken a generous payoff and some serious bending over backwards to keep the KaibaCorp employees from telling his big brother about his plans, but the venture had been well worth the effort for Mokuba. Amongst the rubble and the debris was a tiny flash drive, and Mokuba dared to dream that whatever was on it might help him reunite with his brother.

His dream came true and more.

Mokuba's own personal computer, the one that lived in his room, was advanced enough to run any game and almost any program, but even it wasn't quite up to scratch enough to support whatever was on this USB stick. However, the one Seto kept in his home office went beyond state of the art, and it just so happened that a certain black-haired baby brother knew all the passwords. Unfortunately, the only time Mokuba could access this computer was during the meagre few hours of sleep Seto got each night.

And that wasn't the only limitation he faced. Hooked up to Gozaburo's expensive, extensive system, it was almost as though Noah was alive. Mokuba could see him, hear him, touch him as well as if he were flesh and blood.

But this wasn't the virtual world, this was the real one. And in the real world, that flash drive had been designed to act as a failsafe in the event that something happened to the virtual world, or the system maintaining it. Mokuba couldn't see or hear or touch Noah. But he could talk to him, and it was better than nothing.

Mokuba booted the computer, input the password, inserted the flash drive, and –

 ** _NOAH_** _Baby brother! How was your day? :)_

Mokuba beamed as the words appeared on the screen before him, before eagerly typing back.

 _Hey, bro :):):) It was great! :D Seto's this close to closing this important deal- oh! and there's this great new ice cream flavour down the road from KC HQ! It's delicious P:_

Noah never seemed to begrudge Mokuba for describing things he could never experience. If anything, he encouraged Mokuba to talk about them. If someone came across their chat logs and didn't know better, they could assume that they were reading a conversation between two brothers who lived in different states, different countries maybe, but not different worlds.

 ** _NOAH_** _Ooh, sounds good! Bet it can't beat good old cookies and cream though ;)_

 _I thought your favourite flavour was mint chocolate chip?_

 ** _NOAH_** _Eh, after only having the same flavour for however many years in that world, I decided to jump to my second favourite instead._

Mokuba laughed quietly before crafting his response.

 _Good point xp I'll take you for ice cream one day, bro. It'll be great :D_

 ** _NOAH_** _I don't think the extension cable will reach._

 _Not like this, silly! :P Remember in the virtual world how I told you we'd get our best technicians to build you a robot body? I still intend to make good on that._

There was a delay before Noah replied.

 ** _NOAH_** _Exactly how are you going to manage that if you can't even tell Seto about me?_

 _I will! I'm just waiting for the right time, is all…_

 ** _NOAH_** _Mokuba?_

 _Whaaat? You know how Seto gets._

 ** _NOAH_** _It's okay. I'm happy like this. Besides, it's no less than I deserve._

 _Don't talk like that!_

 ** _NOAH_** _Hasn't it ever bothered you that I nearly killed you?_

 _Buut you didn't!_

 ** _NOAH_** _But I tried to._

 _Everyone's entitled to a bad day._

 ** _NOAH_** _Mokuba, I'm fairly sure Seto hates me, and he's right to. I've done a lot I'm not proud of, and certainly not enough to deserve a brother like you. But believe me when I tell you that nobody's ever cared about me the way you do. This might not be much of a life, but it's the best one I've ever had and I owe that to you, little brother. Don't ever forget that._

Mokuba stared at the words on his screen. There were tears in his eyes, but the boy was stubborn and didn't let them fall. Noah was brave, and he could be too. In the past year or so he'd doing this, Mokuba hadn't cried once.

 _But I want you here with me._

Another delay, then…

 ** _NOAH_** _I want to be there with you too._

Mokuba reached up and placed a hand on the screen, and then slowly leaned forward until his forehead was touching it. With his other hand, he kept typing.

 _I'm sorry._

 ** _NOAH_** _Don't be :)_

Mokuba stared at the tiny emoticon, and smiled just a little bit. If Noah really were standing in front of him, he didn't doubt he'd be smiling too.

 ** _NOAH_** _You ought to get to bed. Big day, tomorrow._

 _Why, what's tomorrow?_

 ** _NOAH_** _I don't know, but you never really have small ones, do you? ;)_

Mokuba laughed, but then caught himself and instantly hushed.

 _Okay, bro. But I'll be back tomorrow night, I promise :D_

 ** _NOAH_** _I know. You always are :)_

 _Goodnight, Noah. :D_

 ** _NOAH_** _Goodnight, Mokuba. :D_

The younger switched the computer off after a brief moment of hesitation, and stashed the flash drive in his pocket. A marbled wave of joy and sadness washed over Mokuba, immobilising him for a moment before he grinned and tiptoed out of his brother's study with great care, balancing his weight just so.


	2. Discussion

**I did it. I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I continued the story.**

 **I'm looking to upload two to three times a week. Also don't be mad if I use the wrong computer-y terms throughout the coming chapters. I don't know squat about large systems. What I do know about is writing about family drama.**

 **Enjoy :D**

* * *

White noise filled the room. The low hum of the air conditioning, the gentle click-clicking of the computer keys, the occasional footsteps outside the door. As always, Mokuba was well-behaved while his brother worked. Sometimes he read, sometimes he did homework, sometimes he drew, sometimes he played games on his handheld, and sometimes, like today for instance, he stared off into space and let his mind wander. Seto didn't ever seem to mind what he did, as long as he wasn't disruptive.

Like any kid would, Mokuba took full advantage of his swivel chair, spinning this way then that. And then he'd get up and pace the room before returning to his seat. He was so lost in his restlessness that when Seto slammed a fist onto the desk and swore, Mokuba jumped.

The elder brother, despite having a nasty temper, rarely ever uttered a single curse word. He was, after all, a grown man who routinely used words like 'dork' and 'dweeb'. So whatever had irritated him today, Mokuba realised, must've been serious.

"What's the problem, bro?" he asked, grabbing a hold of the desk and pulling his seat closer to properly address Seto.

"I think there's a bug in the system," Seto explained through gritted teeth. "I don't know how. We have the best security system in the world. I should know, I designed it myself. But it seems like every time we do anything at the moment, it's all gone in a day. Important documents are disappearing left, right and centre." He took a breath to calm himself. "Two steps forward, one step back. We even have to keep the game we're working on, on the backup server, so we don't lose all our progress. It's a pain in the ass."

"Let's go get lunch," Mokuba suggested. "And then we'll find the source of the problem when we get back."

Seto looked indecisive for a moment, but relented. "Alright, but quickly. Looks like I've got another all-nighter ahead of me."

An all-nighter usually consisted of Seto working from before dusk until after dawn, and Mokuba trying his darndest to keep up with his brother's hours, but always crashing shortly after midnight. He'd wake that morning to find himself snugly wrapped in his big brother's long coat, though Seto would never openly acknowledge doing something so paternal.

"Let's go then!" Mokuba said gleefully. "I know a place."

"I presume you're referring to the usual place?" Seto closed his computer down and slipped his coat on. "Put on a jacket, it's cold out."

Mokuba did as he was told, and they were off.

 **...**

It didn't take long for the brothers to put in their usual lunch orders and begin making their way back to the office. Seto drove while Mokuba, always a dessert-before-dinner kind of person, sat in the seat next to him. Today, he'd ordered a cookies and cream ice cream, and grinned at the silent nod to Noah. But he was a little sad, too – it didn't seem fair that he couldn't be there with them, doing the mundane and so very ordinary lunch run. It was a simple thing, but something that Mokuba didn't see why Noah shouldn't be as entitled to.

"Hey, Seto?" Mokuba spoke up and glanced over his brother. "I can talk to you about anything, right?"

Seto didn't take his eyes off the road as he responded. "What do you mean by anything?"

"Oh, you know," Mokuba said, making an effort to keep his voice nonchalant. "Just things. Important-type…things. Things that have been happening to me as of late, you could say."

There was a brief silence, and when the elder answered, his voice was cautious. "…Sure."

"Okay! Just checking!" Mokuba brightened, and let the subject drop. He spent the rest of the ride wrestling with his own nerves. Mokuba had never had this kind of trouble talking to his brother before; but surely, if Noah could be brave, then so could he.


	3. Admission

**Look at me, keeping up with my own story! Anyway, third chapter. I don't really have much to say at this point, except thank you to the people who have been really sweet about** ** _A World Away_** **so far, and if you can, please don't forget to drop me a comment and let me know what you think so far. :D**

* * *

 _And then, the prince and the dragon join forces to defeat the evil duke and there's this huuuuuge battle scene and however you defeat the duke determines what kind of king you will be and which ending you get! Also, you can choose to have the dragon as a part of your court which is awesome :D And if you discovered the jester's treachery earlier in the game you unlock a secret cutscene which no one knows about because we're keeping it hush-hush as a secret Easter egg, I'm so excited about it :):) It's going to be SO. MUCH. FUN! :D_

 ** _NOAH_** _Wow, that sounds great! You're a genius, little brother :)_

 _Haha, no XD I just came up with the concept. Seto and his team are the ones who have been working hard on the game. He's so smart. I always thought you were a lot alike. ;D_

 ** _NOAH_** _I'll take that as a compliment ;P_

 _Please do :) By the way, I've decided I'm gonna do it_

 ** _NOAH_** _Do what?_

 _I'm gonna tell Seto about our secret. First thing in the morning :) Well, not first thing. Maybe second, after he has his coffee. But by this time tomorrow, he's going to know everything, and we'll get to work on your robot body :D Isn't that exciting? I thought I should let you know before I did it :D:D_

 ** _NOAH_** _Really? Are you sure?_

 _Yep! We'll have you back in the real world in no time! You'll see._

 ** _NOAH_** _There's actually something I need to tell you about that._

 _What?_

 ** _NOAH_** _You're not the only one keeping something from his brother…_

 _What do you mean?_

 ** _NOAH_** _This device I'm stored in. It's a failsafe. You know that._

 _Yeah._

 ** _NOAH_** _I'm so sorry, Mokuba. I should've told you sooner. I didn't want to pressure you. I know how worried you are about Seto's reaction to me._

 _Told me what?_

 ** _NOAH_** _This failsafe, it has a timeout. It's a difficult thing to maintain a whole person's mind. There's limit to what even my father's technology can do._

 _Well, that's okay. Our technicians will just have to work extra fast :) How long do you have left?_

 ** _NOAH_** _I don't know for sure. Time is a bit skewiff in here._

 _Well, how long was the failsafe programmed to last?_

 ** _NOAH_** _Two years._

Mokuba's blood ran cold, and his hands began to tremble. Two years would barely be long enough to design a full human body, but…

 _Are you sure?_

 ** _NOAH_** _Yeah, why?_

 _Because that's next week._

Indeed, the two year anniversary of the whole virtual world experience was fast approaching. It was nearly a year afterward that he'd returned and found the failsafe, and it had been about as long that the two had been carrying on these late-night discussions. If only Mokuba had known how limited they were. If only-

 _I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Noah, I've used up all your time!_

 ** _NOAH_** _Don't be sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry. I should've told you sooner about the timeout._

 _We'll figure something out! We'll find a way. We'll, I dunno, upload you to the KC mainframe or something._

 ** _NOAH_** _Mokuba, you know full well that storing a human mind indefinitely is tricky business. The virtual world I used to live in required dozens of supercomputers to keep it running, and even this failsafe device was a decade in the making; and even in here, I'm little more than a file, and only capable of thought and feelings, and only when I'm plugged in. And it's impossible to sustain me as well as all the systems KaibaCorp requires to create its products. Even trying will likely cause the whole thing to fry and Seto will lose half of his company's work, maybe more. Everything he's worked to create, everything he's still working on, down the drain. And how long would it be until he could get the system back to full capacity? How long will it take to come up with a more permanent solution? My guess is, as long as it would take to do irreparable damage to the company' rep. No, that's out of the question. I can't ask him to give up his life's work for me._

 _Why not? We're family, Noah! Brothers! This is what family does!_

 ** _NOAH_** _I said no, Mokuba. Promise me you won't._

 _I can't._

 ** _NOAH_** _Mokuba, please._

 _No!_

 ** _NOAH_** _I don't know if you know this, but there's a rule about brothers. Once in a lifetime, each brother is allowed to ask the other for one thing. One important, vital favour that the other has to do in the spirit of brotherhood. I am asking you, as your big brother, to do me this one thing. I can't ask something like that of you, or of Seto. Please. In a week, everything on this drive will delete itself. Until then, let's just keep things as they are, okay?_

As soon as he read the words, Mokuba's head dropped, and his shoulders shook. He'd tried to be brave this whole time. But he wasn't brave like Noah, and he wasn't strong like Seto. He was a kid, and a useless one at that. He couldn't save his brother the first time, and he'd failed again the second time around. He couldn't do anything – except this one favour.

 _I promise._

 ** _NOAH_** _Thank you._

 _It's not fair. Why is there a timeout, anyway?_

 ** _NOAH_** _My guess is, my father decided that he didn't want anyone stumbling across the technology years later, and taking credit for 'his' work. My life would be forfeit, but his pride would be safe._

 _It's not fair!_

It was hard to type through his blurred vision, but Mokuba persevered. Losing Noah once had been devastating, but he had hope then. Losing him a second time would be hell.

When he eventually crawled back into bed that night, Mokuba didn't sleep. He knew he wouldn't, and would probably be met with nightmares even if he did. Instead, he pulled the covers over his head and tried to pretend that the rest of the world didn't exist until morning.


	4. Struggling

**Seriously, who let me write sad things about my children?**

 **Anyway, I'm pretty happy with this whole Tues/Thurs/Sun upload schedule, so I think I'll be keeping that up until the story's finished. Don't forget to let me know what you think! Reviews make my day. :D**

* * *

The window needed cleaning. The lines on the road needed repainting. The traffic light needed changing. Mokuba did his best to focus on anything and everything besides his bleeding lip and new bruises.

Oh, Seto would be mad. Mokuba had dropped his bad boy image long ago, and become a good student. It made things easier and, honestly, much more enjoyable for both him and his brother. As it turned out, life was a lot better when you weren't fighting against it all the time.

But today, his emotions had gotten the better of him, something Seto didn't advocate. This morning, admittedly, Mokuba had been a little ruder to Seto and his household staff than he needed to be, but no one questioned him at the time. Now, however, there would be no avoiding the interrogation.

It wasn't all his fault, of course, even though he threw the first punch. The other kid had provoked him. Jye was a bully, and had been pushing Mokuba's buttons for weeks. Today, his patience had run out and he simply…snapped.

Mokuba didn't meet anyone's eye as the driver pulled up, parked, and lead him inside to the private elevator that he and Seto used. Fortunately, he had the ride up alone to collect himself. If he could.

Mokuba knocked on his brother's office door and let himself in without waiting for an answer, being the only person in the world who was allowed to do so. When he entered, Seto looked up from his paperwork, and a look of vague confusion quickly turned into a mix of anger and concern. No doubt, he was wondering who would _dare_ hit his baby brother. It probably didn't even occur to Seto that Mokuba was the one who'd started it.

"What happened to you?"

"I don't wanna talk about it!" Mokuba plonked in his usual seat and stared pointedly out the window with his arms folded.

"Mokuba." That was Seto's 'I'm-not-playing-around' voice.

"I said I don't wanna talk about it!"

Seto walked over to his brother, and at first, Mokuba tried to retreat, but he was backed up into his chair and really had nowhere to go. Undoubtedly, Seto would've figured that the school nurse had checked over Mokuba's injuries, and she had – no serious damage had been done, she decided – but of course, the young CEO trusted nobody but no one with the wellbeing of his baby brother besides himself.

"Who did this to you?" he demanded, carefully examining Mokuba's new cuts and bruises.

"No one."

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Talk to me."

"No."

Seto was visibly surprised. Mokuba never said no to him. "You know, I'm sure a quick call to your principal will clear all this up."

"Do what you want." Mokuba shoved Seto away and stood up, walking to the other side of the room. He knew he was being rude and unreasonable and totally unfair, but he didn't care enough to cut it out.

"You're way out of line," Seto warned. "What's gotten into you?"

"I will say it one more time: I don't wanna talk about it, so just drop it, okay?" Mokuba curled up in the sofa Seto kept in his office for all-nighters, the one he usually fell asleep in, and drew his knees to his chest. With a groan, Seto did indeed seem to 'drop it'. For now. He wasn't the talking-it-out type, anyway.

Mokuba, however, was. With most things, he'd talk them through with Seto – well, okay, _he'd_ talk, and Seto would mostly multitask by listening to his brother and doing something work-related. But he couldn't with this thing.

So that night, like every night, he made his pilgrimage across the hall to speak to his other big brother.

 _I don't know if I can do this. :(_

 ** _NOAH_** _What are you talking about._

 _…_ _I got into a fight at school today._

 ** _NOAH_** _That isn't like you. What happened?_

 _It's just this kid. He picks on other kids who don't have perfect lives like him. Sick kids, poor kids…_

 ** _NOAH_** _Orphans?_

 _Yeah._

 ** _NOAH_** _So he picks on you, too?_

 _Yeah. But it's nothing serious and usually I can ignore it._

 ** _NOAH_** _Why hasn't anything been done about it?_

 _Well, I don't talk about it. If I did, it'd get back to Seto, and he'd probably do something overly dramatic. It's not really bad enough to warrant his whole family being exiled to the moon._

 ** _NOAH_** _If that's the case, then how did the fight start?_

 _It was my fault. He was picking on me for being raised by my brother, and I tried to ignore him, but I was already so upset, and I didn't want to deal with it. So I kind of hit him._

 ** _NOAH_** _You what? Violence isn't the answer. You taught me that._

 _I know! I know! I shouldn't have done it. And worse, I was rude to everyone who tried to help me, including Seto. I was wrong to act that way. But I was just so mad and upset…I couldn't help myself._

 ** _NOAH_** _I'm sorry. It's all my fault. Were you hurt badly?_

 _No, no, it's nothing a few days of healing won't take care of. I'm sorry if I disappointed you._

 ** _NOAH_** _You could never disappoint me. I know this'll be hard, but you'll get through it. You're a tough kid._

 _If only that were true. I jdksl'_

Noah never learned what Mokuba meant to type next, because Mokuba never got to finish his sentence. At that moment, something happened that startled him enough that he jumped and accidentally hit a set of random keys, including the send button.

The doorknob turned.


	5. Bluff

**Happy Tuesday everybody, and welcome back :D I don't have any Author's Notes today, so let's just get on with the chapter!**

* * *

"What are you doing in here?"

Now there was a tone Mokuba had heard many times – but rarely directed at him. Seto's voice was full of impatience and irritation. He wasn't here to listen to excuses.

 ** _NOAH_** _Mokuba? Everything ok?_

Mokuba couldn't think of a decent response that both involved the truth and didn't break his promise to Noah. So instead he went with a very mature, "None of your business."

"Correction, Mokuba. This is _my_ office. Everything that happens in here is my business. What could you possibly need my computer for at two-twenty in the morning?"

"I was, uh…looking something up."

"At this time of night?"

"Uh-huh."

"In here?"

'Yep."

"When you have your own computer in your very own room?" Seto clearly wasn't buying it. He stood on the other side of the desk and leaned against it, ducking his head for a brief moment and sighing. He looked tired. "Look, I don't know what's been up with you lately, but you aren't acting like yourself. And I know I'm not the greatest listener of all time, but if something's going on, you can tell me. I could help."

 ** _NOAH_** _What's going on?_

For a split-second, Mokuba felt guilty. Seto was only doing his best, and here he was, acting cold and callous. But then his eyes flickered to the screen where Noah seemed to be shouting at him, trying to work out why he'd stopped responding so suddenly, and a memory came back to him. One that hurt. One that made anger bubble up within him, and caused him to say, "I really don't think you could."

"Why not?" Seto tried to meet his brother's gaze, but Mokuba was stubborn. He knew he was being granted a privilege here denied the rest of humanity; a glimpse into his brother's soft side. The part of him that was kind and caring and even paternal. The part of him that spoke with a gentle voice, and grappled to understand the inner workings of another person's heart. It was a side to Seto only Mokuba knew. That was the problem.

"Because you wouldn't care," Mokuba answered coldly, and Seto visibly reeled. He reached forward and switched the screen off, trying to be subtle about it as he spoke. "You don't care about anything but yourself."

Mokuba getting mad at Seto was about as rare as a polkadotted platypus, and the elder clearly didn't know how to handle it. "How can you say that, after everything we've been through?"

"Actually, it's because of everything we've been through that I can say that."

Mokuba slipped out of his chair and stormed from the office, slamming the door behind him pointedly. This hallway was one he was used to walking in silence, but right now, he didn't care if we woke the whole street as he stomped his way back to his room, and locked himself in. He was so lost in his tantrum that he forgot that he'd forgotten to grab the flash drive out of Seto's computer.

 **…**

A small, sarcastic part of Seto wondered if he should be calling an ambulance right now, for the mild state of shock he'd slipped into.

No matter what he did, no matter what fresh hell the boy had endured, Mokuba always stayed loyal to Seto. It was the one constant in their chaotic lives. Maybe this kind of behaviour was normal for kids of Mokuba's age, and Seto was sure that if he asked a professional, that's what they'd say. But Mokuba wasn't normal. Nothing about their lives was.

"What the hell?" Seto finally whispered to himself. "What the actual hell just happened here?"

He racked his brain, trying to figure out what Mokuba was so mad about. He was used to people hating his guts; that was nothing new. But Mokuba knew him so much better than that. Whatever had shattered the view Mokuba had of his big brother, Seto had to find it and get rid of it. He didn't make a habit of caring what other people thought of him, but as with most things, Mokuba was the exception.

"Starting with this." Seto turned the screen back on, and somehow he felt like what he saw shouldn't have shocked him.

 ** _NOAH_** _Bro?_

 ** _NOAH_** _Mokuba, answer me..!_

 ** _NOAH_** _I'm really worried now, what happened to you?_

 ** _NOAH_** _Did you fall asleep?_

 ** _NOAH_** _Mokubaaa?_

For a moment, Seto entertained the idea that Mokuba was speaking to the only Noah the two of them already knew; their long-lost stepbrother. But he cast that thought away as soon as it occurred to him. That was, after all, impossible. Noah was dead, and Seto was a responsible, logical businessman who believed in facts, like the fact that it was impossible to communicate with the dead.

Maybe this was some kind of new friend he'd made, then? Someone from school, or someone he met online? Well, whoever 'Noah' was, he was bad news.

Seto reached to take the USB out and quickly pulled his hand away as a jolt of electricity zapped him.

Weird. He knew for a fact his computer was electrically sound, so it shouldn't have done that.

Carefully he reached forward and touched the very tip of his middle finger to the device. When nothing happened, he ripped it from the port.

"That's quite enough of that."


	6. Reunion

**Here we are: chapter six! Will Mokuba ever tell his brother the truth? Will he really lose Noah forever? Am I going to keep asking pointless questions in my ANs just to put more words on the page so I can pretend that I'm good at communicating? Or am I actually going to get on with the story?**

 **Please enjoy another helping of "oh dear god why did I write this in the first place", and don't forget that reviews make my day :D**

* * *

The next day was tense to say the least. Mokuba wouldn't say a word to his brother, and even refused to go to work with him. It was the quietest and dullest Saturday that Seto had ever endured.

Until Mokuba stormed in at about lunchtime. "Where's is it?"

Seto shot his brother an annoyed look and gestured to the phone at his ear. Mokuba tapped his foot impatiently while Seto finished off his call and hung up. He then rested his elbows on the desk and raised his eyebrows at Mokuba. "What are you looking for, exactly?"

"My USB stick. I left it in your office last night, and it's not there today. Where did you put it?"

"Away," Seto answered evenly. "And no, you can't have it back."

Mokuba frowned. "I need it! It's mine, you can't keep it!"

"I confiscated it." While Mokuba yelled, Seto spoke calmly. "I don't know what's on it, but I don't appreciate you plugging foreign devices into my personal computer. That thing's connected to the KaibaCorp online network. For all I know, it's a virus on that that's been causing havoc in our systems lately."

"It's not," Mokuba assured. "Now give it back."

"Sure," Seto said. "If you'll tell me why it matters to you so much."

Mokuba faltered a little. "I…can't."

Seto sighed, and got to his feet. "That's what I can't figure out. What could there possibly be that you couldn't tell me about?" He came closer to Mokuba and knelt a few feet away so that they were at eye level. "I saw the screen. I saw Noah's name. What's going on?"

"I told you before, you wouldn't care if I told you." Tears formed in the corners of his eyes, and his hands shook. A classic sign of an angry Mokuba. "Besides, you're not my father. You can't make me do anything."

It was a low blow, and Mokuba regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Seto had been more of a father to him than anyone since their real parents died, taking on all responsibility for his kid brother, despite still being a child himself. He could see a brief look of hurt cross his brother's face, but Seto seemed to shrug it off quickly, knowing full well that Mokuba was only speaking out of anger.

"I know I'm not," Seto answered quietly. "But surely you, of the billions of people on this planet, should know me better than that. Clearly, this matters to you. Therefore, it matters to me."

Indecision took the driver's seat in Mokuba's mind. He wanted to trust Seto. He wanted to tell him everything, like he always did. He wanted to run to his big brother and let him make it all better, because that was what Seto did. But even without the promise he'd made to Noah, there was a part of him that slammed the brake; a part that felt that tiny bit of anger and betrayal that was just enough to keep his lips sealed.

"Mokuba, please tell me what I did to make you look at me like that," Seto pressed. "I can't fix it if you don't."

It was then Mokuba realised that he wasn't just looking at his brother, he was glaring. He probably looked as unconvinced as he felt.

"…Does this have something to do with Noah?"

Mokuba flinched, and instantly knew he'd given himself away.

Seto blinked. "I don't know why you'd worry yourself about that now, he's long dead. You shouldn't live in the past. The future is all that matters. _Our_ future."

Mokuba's hands balled into fists. "You _would_ say that, wouldn't you? I knew you wouldn't care."

"I-" Seto didn't seem to understand what he did wrong. "What do you mean?"

"See?" Mokuba gestured wildly at his brother, his voice growing louder and louder. "You don't care! You don't care about anything, except your company and yourself, and-"

"And my brother," Seto added.

Mokuba froze, and his hands dropped. "One of us."

"You…you don't blame me for what happened to Noah, do you?"

"No, but-" Mokuba knew then that he'd opened the can of worms he'd worked so hard for so long to keep closed, and now there was no turning back. "You didn't care about what happened to him." Mokuba sniffed and rubbed his eyes, trying to quell his tears. "You were so eager to get on with your dumb tournament, you didn't even stop to think about anything else. Our brother _died_! He gave up his life to save ours, and you didn't even care! You didn't care about Noah, and you didn't care about me or my feelings, all you cared about was yourself! You were so selfish!"

Seto fell silent for several minutes. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. "Is that what you think?"

"It's what I know. It's how you were acting."

Normally, Seto would never let anyone speak to him that way. Mokuba half-expected to get told off, or grounded or something.

So he was more than surprised when Seto reached out pulled his little brother forward, wrapping him in his arms.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't want to think of it that way. Accepting Noah as our brother would be the same as accepting Gozaburo as our father, and I couldn't do that. But I should've remembered that things were different for you. You got to know him, and you're a lot more open to other people than I am. I should have checked on you afterwards. I should have made sure you were okay, but I didn't. That was my mistake. I'm sorry."

Mokuba didn't immediately hug his brother back, but he didn't pull away, either. As stubborn as he was, Seto was moreso. He didn't apologise. He didn't admit to being wrong. He didn't acknowledge his flaws; that simply wasn't him.

Even so, Mokuba could sense that he was being entirely genuine. Somewhere in the background, the phone rang. It was probably important, but Seto ignored it. The world could have come to an end, but Mokuba had all of his brother's attention. Time stood still while he made up his mind about what to say, and Seto was patient enough to see it through, not moving a muscle while his baby brother contemplated.

Then slowly, Mokuba put his arms around Seto, and buried his face in his shoulder. In a cruel world that left two children alone in the care of a monster, this was the one place Mokuba knew would always be safe.

Seto let his brother cry into his expensive jacket, while rubbing his back softly. And when Mokuba had calmed down enough to speak, Seto tried once again to work out what in the hell had caused all this. "Please tell me what is on that flash drive."

"How about I show you?" Mokuba suggested, his resolve crumbling. He knew he was breaking a promise, but with or without him, Seto would plug it in and find out sooner or later. Mokuba figured he should be there for that.

Seto produced the item from his pocket and, after hurriedly wiping his face, Mokuba climbed into Seto's chair and plugged it in.

The screen went black for a second, then flickered to life.

 ** _NOAH_** _Hey! What happened to you? Are you okay?_

 _Yeah, I'm sorry. Stuff happened, but I'm alright, promise :D_

 ** _NOAH_** _I'm glad. You keep me on my toes, little brother._

Mokuba chanced a peek at Seto, who seemed to be slowly understanding.

"It's a failsafe," Mokuba said. "In the event that something happened to the computers that maintained the virtual world, Noah's mind would get backed up onto this. He can't move or see or anything. The most he can do is communicate, and only when the device is plugged in."

"So, that's-" Seto pointed to the screen, and his voice trailed off. For once in his life, he was at a loss for words.

Mokuba continued to type.

 _Um, there's something you ought to know, though . I know I promised to keep this a secret, and I did try, but Seto walked in…_

 ** _NOAH_** _Wait, does he know about me?_

 _Yeah. I'm sorry._

 ** _NOAH_** _Mokuba, you promised._

 _It was an accident! He walked in while I was typing to you…_

 ** _NOAH_** _Ah, that explains what happened._

 _He's also kind of looking at the screen now and reading everything we say…._

"How long have you been doing this?" Seto asked, and Mokuba bit his lip, contemplating a lie, but settling for the truth.

"About a year. Are you mad at me?"

Seto seemed to seriously consider the question before answering. "No. But I am disappointed that you didn't tell me sooner. I could've helped. For starters, we could've transferred Noah somewhere more comfortable while we worked on a permanent solution."

"About that…" Mokuba cleared his throat. "I…really should have told you sooner. The failsafe times out next week, and when that happens, everything on it will be fried."

Seto looked thoughtful for a moment; until finally, his eyes widened as the penny dropped. No doubt he'd just figured the reasoning behind his brother's erratic behaviour.

Seto's eyes flickered to the screen, where he saw a message, addressed to him.

 ** _NOAH_** _Hello, Seto._

"Say something," Mokuba encouraged, gesturing to the keyboard. But as the elder reached out to type, another message flashed onto the screen.

 ** _GOZABURO_** _I always hated family reunions._


	7. Zugzwang

**Happy Sunday, everybody! Apologies for the length, this is more of a bridge between the previous and next chapters than anything. Regardless, I hope you enjoy! It does seem like we're coming upon the climax of the story, after all ;)**

* * *

Mokuba jumped out of his chair and away from the computer, as though he'd been zapped. Surely this was a trick of some kind. It had to be.

While he deliberated, Seto sprang into action.

 _Is this some kind of sick joke? I don't take kindly to this sort of absurdity._

 ** _NOAH_** _I didn't know he was in here, I swear! Oh god, all this time, how did I not know?_

 ** _GOZBURO_** _Shut up, brat. Did you really think I'd set a contingency for you, and not myself? I think you'll find I can do a little more than just type pathetic love letters. Now keep out of my way, or I will delete you this instant!_

Mokuba clung onto his brother's jacket. "Is this really happening?"

Seto gritted his teeth. He looked angry. More than angry, in fact – he was furious.

 _Are you the lowlife who's been causing trouble in my systems?_

 ** _GOZABURO_** _Unfortunately, the computer your little lapdog has been unintentionally hooking me up to was only linked to KaibaCorp through the internet, and I had such a small amount of time to do anything each night, let alone upload myself fully. But I could mess with you bit, just to pass the time, because it really was a matter of time before he was incompetent enough to plug me in to a computer with more direct access to your servers._

 _So, is that your plan? Just like before, you want to upload yourself to the KaibaCorp network and take over my company?_

 ** _GOZABURO_** _And I will. All because your stupid little brothers couldn't think with their heads instead of their hearts. Business before pleasure, Seto; like I always told you. Now you'll lose everything, and they will know that it's their fault._

"In your dreams." Seto tried to pull the failsafe out, but like last time, it sparked at him – only worse. Visible jolts of electricity surged from the computer, making it impossible for Seto to touch it without risking his life.

He put an arm in front of Mokuba, who seemed to have gone completely numb, and slowly backed him away.

"What do we do, Seto?" He asked in a whisper.

Seto's eyes flicked from the sparks of electricity to the screen, which had gone blank, except for a single word – **CHECKMATE**. Gozaburo had this planned for a while, he realised. And now, he was uploading himself to KaibaCorp's system, and Seto wasn't sure that there was a single thing he could do about it.

"I don't know," He finally admitted.


	8. Endgame

**Happy day and welcome back!**

 **I know it isn't Tuesday, sue me. I'm busy tomorrow and not sure that I'll get a chance to upload on time, so rather than making you wait until Wednesday, I decided to bring you this chapter an evening early, because I'm a giver like that.**

 **Before we get into this chapter, I'm just going to apologise once more in case I got my computer-y terminology wrong. I don't know anything about large systems.**

 **What I do know is that reviews make me very happy, and that I'm very grateful for everyone who's commented, favourited, and otherwise supported this series so far.**

 **This is and will be the second-last chapter in this particular story. Will I write a sequel? Who knows. Maybe. But in the meantime, enjoy, and I'll see you Thursday :)**

* * *

Systems were going critical, and a full evacuation was ordered. The building was no longer safe.

Mokuba watched the chaos from his brother's side, wondering that he could be so calm at a time like this. While everyone ran to the nearest exit, Seto strolled calmly in the opposite direction.

"Bro!" the younger shouted over the chaos. "We need to leave! It's too dangerous! Come on, the exit is-"

Seto rounded on his brother so suddenly that Mokuba ran into him. He half-expected to be yelled at; but instead, Seto placed his hands gently on Mokuba's shoulders.

"You should evacuate with everyone else."

Mokuba shook his head. "I'm staying with you."

"It's too dangerous here. Everything's overloading; even if you don't get electrocuted to death, it's only a matter of time before the fires break out. You need to leave, now."

"I can't," Mokuba said. "I won't. I know it's dangerous, but I also know that the safest place in the world is with you."

"Mokuba!" Seto had to raise his voice to be heard over the noise. "I don't have time to argue-"

"Then don't!" Mokuba moved around his brother and kept running in the general direction they'd been heading.

Seto didn't push the issue any further – an argument would've only wasted valuable time. It took less than a second to catch up to his brother, who asked, "Where are we going?"

"Basement," he answered shortly. "There's a set of computers down there that the entire main system runs off. I suspect that's how Gozburo intends to get in. If there's a single computer left in the building that can handle the overload and still give me access, it'll be one of those."

"What will you do when we get there? Shut down the whole system?"

"Exactly. I can't attack him directly – he'll have safeguards against that, no doubt. But he can't stop me from wiping the whole system completely. And because he's partway uploaded, that'll include him."

Mokuba slowed. "But what about Noah? We can't just abandon him."

"We don't have a choice." Seto's blue eyes stared straight ahead, refusing to look at Mokuba. They both knew he was right. If Gozaburo got control of KaibaCorp, it wasn't just their lives that would be in danger, but the whole world.

Mokuba dropped his gaze, allowing determination and an enduring sadness to take over. It projected him forward, though he was so very tired and ready to drop.

Finally they reached the sever room in the basement. Seto slid gracefully into the seat in front of the main computer, and instantly got to work. Mokuba stood by his side, biting his lip nervously.

The worst part, he knew, wouldn't just be losing Noah again. It would be losing Noah and forfeiting his chance to say goodbye. But as Seto had said – they had no choice.

"Finally, something's going right today," Seto murmured out of the blue.

"What is?"

"It seems our stepfather still hasn't learned his lesson about being too cocky for his own good. See – he hasn't fully locked down the system. I can move some of our company's more important files onto the backup server, so they won't be affected. Then I can wipe the system and delete the monster before he'd fully uploaded himself, and this will all be over."

"Great…" Mokuba tried to sound more enthusiastic about it than he was. And failed.

Seto worked quickly, and it was all his brother could do to pace nervously behind him. They had a small window before Gozaburo caught onto their plan, so every second was precious.

After a few minutes of tension, Gozaburo's voice sounded over the speaker. "Nice try, Seto. But I won't let you ruin my plans again. Step away from the keyboard, and I might let you live."

Seto didn't seem deterred. If anything, he looked even more determined. But all the determination in the world couldn't put a pause on the clock. So Seto turned to his brother and mouthed two words that he didn't expect: _distract him_.

"How-?" Mokuba tried to ask, but Seto had gone back to his task. He honestly didn't know which was more daunting; having to speak to Gozaburo, or the fact that Seto clearly had enough faith in him to trust him to do something this important, and this difficult. Mokuba wasn't even sure he had that kind of faith in himself.

Even when they all lived together, Gozburo never listened to a thing Mokuba said. The only time he acknowledged the boy's existence was when he thought he could use him to get to his smarter and more successful older brother. Otherwise, Mokuba had been a non-entity in that household, only there because Seto had seen to it.

He hadn't really minded; Mokuba never had much to say to his stepfather, so it didn't matter if he wouldn't listen.

Well, he had to listen today.

"Hey, Gozaburo!" Mokuba called out, aware that the speakers' built-in microphones would pick up his voice crystal clear.

"What do you want, brat?" Gozaburo demanded, sounding irritated, as though Mokuba's very presence was an inconvenience.

"I have something to say, and you're gonna listen!" Mokuba spoke with firmness and authority. If this was what it would take to fix the problem he was partially responsible for, then he'd do it. Seto always said that his baby brother was good with people, but today, that wasn't enough. It would also take Seto's strength and Noah's bravery to see him through these next few minutes, and buy Seto the time he needed. A team effort. Seto knew that, and if he believed Mokuba could do it, then so did he.

"It's one thing to be a terrible person, but it's another to be a terrible father-"

Gozaburo laughed. "Are you really going to give me a lecture on parenting, you pathetic runt? Because-"

"SHUT UP!" Mokuba shouted; and Gozaburo did, probably out of surprise. "I told you to listen to me. You're a monster, Gozaburo. You hurt my brothers. You treated Seto like your own personal slave, and Noah like some toy that you could discard whenever you felt like it. I may be just a kid, but even I know that was wrong, as well as I know that you do too, and you don't care!

"But here's what you don't understand; and you never could, and you never will: Seto and I have taken you down once before, and then we did it again with Noah in the virtual world. All your money and power couldn't help you then. Why do you think that is? I'll tell you, since you're too heartless to work it out yourself. It's because we have a weapon more powerful than anything you ever designed when you were head of this company. We have a bond you can't break! It was Seto's desire to build us a real home and real lives that defeated you the first time, and Noah's willingness to give his life to keep up safe that took you down the second. Well, now it's my turn!"

That hideous, deep laughter boomed through the speakers. "You? You're just a child. A weak, useless child with no hope of ever being a match for me. What can you possibly do that's of any use to anyone?"

"Why don't you ponder that in hell?" Seto slammed the last button, and one by one, the many screens in the room turned white, and flickered off.

"NO!" Gozaburo screamed. "You-you tricked me! You distracted me! How _dare_ you?"

"Not bad for a pathetic runt, huh?" Mokuba smirked through his stepfather's screaming and cursing and protests, until finally the room fell quiet. Suddenly, the atmosphere felt dead and dark. Almost lifeless. He bowed his head as a sense of finality washed over him – it was over. Really and truly over.

A gentle hand settled on Mokuba's shoulder. "Let's go."


	9. Beginning

"At least there doesn't seem to be too much damage to the building," Mokuba observed as they walked through the deserted corridors. "And you got all the important things backed up, so it won't take long to rebuild."

"Mmhm," Seto mumbled in agreement. He had one arm around Mokuba's shoulders, but his gaze was surveying the area.

Mokuba let out a long, mournful sigh. "I'm sorry, Seto. If I had told you everything sooner, then all this could've been avoided. Now Noah's gone, and so is half of your company, and it's all my fault. I won't ever try to keep a secret from you again, I promise."

Seto didn't reply right away, and Mokuba almost wished he would yell or something, just to break the awful silence. But no, they kept walking, until the two were at Seto's office. Mokuba couldn't help but wonder what they were doing there.

"I have something for you." Seto's voice was soft. He didn't sound mad; he didn't even sound mildly irritated. It confused Mokuba.

"O-okay," he stammered, as Seto pushed the door open.

Mokuba watched as his brother calmly put his desk to rights and rebooted his computer.

"Is this about the files you backed up?" the younger asked curiously.

"Mm, yes and no," Seto answered vaguely, removing the now dormant failsafe device from the USB port and handing it to Mokuba. "You should keep that."

Mokuba took the flash drive and held it gently in his hands. Every fibre of his being was painfully aware that this was all he had left of Noah. He felt as though he ought to say something, but he didn't even know where to begin. There were so many words left unsaid. So many apologies, so many thank you's – but he never got around to any of them. He never even got a goodbye.

"Just curious," Seto asked without looking up from his screen. "Are you going to beat yourself up over all this forever, or just for the foreseeable future?"

"Whichever one's longer," Mokuba answered, dropping into a chair and closing his eyes.

"Look, I'm not mad, so you shouldn't be. In future, I hope you'll tell me the truth, but you already said that you'd learned your lesson there, so I can let that slide. You were only trying to do the right thing. So really, there's nothing for you to be upset about." Mokuba's eyes shot open. Didn't they just have an argument about this? But before he could yell at Seto, the elder kept speaking. "I told you that I'd saved all the important things."

Mokuba looked confused. "With all due respect, Seto, as glad as I am that the company isn't in complete shambles, it's not my chief concern."

"Mokuba, it's almost as though you don't know who your brother is." Seto had that smirk on his face – the one he got when he knew something that no one else did. "Everything else was already backed up. Rule one of business is contingency. Having copies upon copies of everything. Especially as of late, with random files deleting themselves – though now we know what was causing that, I think we can count that problem as over and done with."

"I don't understand," Mokuba said. "Only shutting down the system and wiping it would've taken moments. It's your system, after all. What were you doing the rest of the time?"

"Come and see." Confusion turned to curiosity and Mokuba walked over to see the loading screen of _The Prince's Path_ – the game he'd told Noah about.

"You…saved the game?"

"It's not about the game, Mokuba. It's about the players."

At first, Mokuba was utterly lost. The penny was in the air – and when it dropped, he lit up like a Christmas tree.

"You—but, h-how?"

"I couldn't have done it if you hadn't bought me that extra time." There was a softness in Seto's eyes as he spoke. "I'm proud of you, little brother."

"But, it took Gozaburo, like, that whole time to get only partway uploaded. How did you do it for Noah in only a few minutes?"

"Like you said, it's my system. Nobody can work it like I can." In other words, the truth is probably more boring and technical than whatever you're imagining, so I'll let you work it out.

Whatever. Mokuba didn't care how it happened; only that it did.

"There's one thing you should keep in mind, though," Seto explained, sobering a little. "It's not…absolute."

"What do you mean?"

"I had limited time and limited resources. I did my best, Mokuba, but there's no guarantee that Noah will be entirely intact. Some things may have been left behind, or the file may have been corrupted. We won't know until we see."

Mokuba turned to the screen. The game was almost fully loaded. He placed a hand against the cool surface and spoke as though he could will everything to work out. "I don't know if you know this," he said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "But for every pair of brothers, there's a rule that says that once in a lifetime, each brother is allowed to ask the other for one thing in the spirit of brotherhood. I'm asking you now, Noah…please be okay. Please."

It was an intense few seconds from when the home screen appeared, and Seto loaded the only available saved file. Everything appeared as it should at the beginning of the game, save for one thing. Where the protagonist Prince Dorian should have been, he wasn't. Instead, there stood an animated version of someone else.

"Noah!"

The avatar on the screen turned to face the camera, then smiled and waved.

"I could have done this a year ago if you'd told me about it," Seto bragged from behind him, but Mokuba was too high on cloud nine to care.

A text bubble appeared as per the game on the bottom of the screen, except this one read,

 ** _Noah:_** _Mokuba, is that you?_

Mokuba looked at Seto, who gestured to the keyboard, and eagerly began typing.

 _Yeah, it's me! Seto did it! He saved the company, and you! :D_

Virtual Noah's shoulder's drooped.

 ** _Noah:_** _I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you. I really didn't know he'd backed himself up onto that thing, too. I hope too much damage wasn't done._

Mokuba took a step back from the computer, recognising exactly who the message was aimed at. He gave Seto an expectant look.

"What?"

"Talk to him," Mokuba encouraged. "He's your brother, too."

Seto groaned, but did as Mokuba asked.

 _It's alright. Brothers are messy. Besides, there wasn't a lot of damage done._

Then, after an impatient glance from Mokuba, he went on to type,

 _You seem intact._

Noah brightened a little.

 ** _Noah:_** _I feel it! This is great! There are so many new things to do here!_

 _Well, it's no complicated virtual world per se, but it's better than existing as text on a screen._

 ** _Noah:_** _Thank you, Seto. For everything._

And then, because he knew it would make Mokuba's day (and a little bit because he meant it):

 _That's what brothers are for._

Seto leaned back in his seat, and slid the keyboard over to Mokuba, who could've sworn that he saw a ghost of a smile on his big brother's face.

This wasn't a permanent solution, they all knew that. There were miles of work ahead of all three of them before either could rest. The building was in tatters, and the staff would be pulling all-nighters for months to come to repair the damage to the system; not to mention they had to come up with some sort of human-like robot body for Noah to live in, so he could have a chance at a real life.

But that was all to come. For now, in this moment, the three brothers were exhausted, but also happy.

* * *

 **And that's that.**

 **When I set out to write this story, I literally only jotted down a half-assed one-shot, not thinking twice about it. Nine chapters later, I have my (as of now) most-reviewed story on FFN, and my writing must back, which is wonderful.**

 **Thank you to the people who have reviewed, favourited, followed, read, and otherwise supported this giant pile of mess. I hope the ending lived up to what you hoped.  
**

 **Will I write a sequel? As I said in my notes for the last chapter, I don't know. At this stage, there's a very good chance of it. I don't want to promise anything, but doing this story had been such a joy for me; and I really, genuinely loved writing about these boys, and this fandom. I would like to see where Kaiba and his brothers wind up from here, and whether Noah will get a body of his own. So all I can say at this point, is stay tuned! I'll edit this A/N if I do indeed decide to go ahead with a sequel.**

 **Thanks again, and don't forget that reviews make me happier than Kaiba being given a pet BEWD for Christmas.**

 **EDIT: I am pleased to announce a sequel to this story! See my newest one-shot, _Shenanigans_ , for details!**

 **DOUBLE-EDIT: The sequel to this story, titled _My Brothers' Keeper_ is up and on my page! :D**


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